Earthmovers have plowed a path
where a new lane of Avenida 2 will go in as part of the municipality’s
effort to spiff up San José. The uphill climb out of the downtown
always is congested during daytime hours. The turret is in the former Bella
Vista Fortress, now Museo Nacional, to the left.

A.M. Costa Rica photo

Seasonal downpour does some damage to homes

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The skies over the Central Valley opened up about 1 p.m. Monday and
more than two inches of rain drenched the area by nightfall.

More than 100 homes suffered damage, and a few were destroyed as rivers
came out of their banks in Alajuelita, San Juan de Dios de Desamparados
and Aserrí.

Similar rain is predicted for today as tropical air currents fight for
dominance over Costa Rica, according to the Instituto Meteorológico
Nacional. The weather forecast said that the Pacific coast would get a
significant amount of rain.

The weather institute said Monday night that some 5.39 cms. of rain
fell since 7 a.m. Monday. That’s 2.2 inches. Of course, the rugged nature
of Costa Rica turns a heavy rain into torrents.

Part of a sidewalk collapsed in downtown San José on Avenida
6 at Calle 1. Workmen had been digging a 20-foot excavation for a parking
garage and had excavated right up to the sidewalk line. When the sidewalk
gave way, it took underground electric and telephone cables with it as
well as the tin barrier workmen had erected around the site.

Traffic signals were out in parts of the downtown for several hours,
complicating rush

hour traffic. There were power outages
of up to an hour in other parts of the city during the evening.

October may not be the month with the most rain, but it certainly is
the most frustrating month for a population ready to welcome the dry season.

Typically, Costa Rica’s high season for tourism begins in early November
on the north Pacific coast and gradually works its way down to Golfito
and the Osa Peninsula by mid-December. The Central Valley is somewhere
in the middle with alternating dry and rainy days for the first three weeks
of November.

However, some rains will continue for several weeks. Then the umbrellas
are put away until the following March. The change in climate is caused
by the arrival of winter in the north and the changes in air currents that
causes.

The weather experts have been suggesting that the advent of the dry
season might be delayed a week or two this year, but there are no certainties.
With the dry weather, residents can expect an increase in winds.

For October, Central Valley residents can expect some sun and clouds
in the morning with darkening skies and downpours in the afternoon.

Monday an association of automobile shops conducted a motorized protest
from El Coyol in Alajuela to Casa Presidential in Zapote. The several
dozen vehicles went right through downtown San José contributing
to the morning traffic.

The protest is against the 13 percent increase approved for Riteve Sys,
the monopoly that conducts vehicle inspections in Costa Rica. The shop
operators also want the right to conduct the inspections.

Meanwhile, a more extensive protest looms Oct. 20 when the Asociación
Nacional de Empleados Públicos promises a protest against a proposed
free trade treaty with the United States.

The public employees are expected to be joined by employees of the Instituto
Costarricense de Electricidad who fear that an international treaty will
weaken their monopoly hold on electricity, telephones and telecommunications.

Meanwhile, deputies at the Asamblea Nacional are talking about forming
a committee to consult with legislators of other Central American countries
on the topic of a free trade treaty.

Another protest is planned for employees of the Ministerio de Salud
and the same public employees association against a budget cut for the
ministry.

Swimming victim’sbody still missing

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A swimmer snatched by the sea Sunday still is missing off Jacó
beach. The 19-year-old Heredia resident was caught in the same surf that
killed a Desamparados de Alajuela woman, 18.

Officials of the Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas at the Quepos station
said they would continue the search for the man, identified as Alfredo
José Morales Víquez. Officials were unable to locate his
body Monday.

The double tragedy happened about 4 p.m. Sunday as the result of a riptide.
The woman, Tatiana Murillo Guerrero, was rescued from the surf by the Cruz
Roja but died later at a hospital.

Message recountsabduction by taxi

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

An unusual message Monday from Casa Presidencial warned residents about
bandits who were masquerading as taxi drivers.

The message claims to be the true story of a Universidad Latina student
who was abducted near the school in San Pedro de Montes de Oca. The message
does not name the girl but says she is the sister of a friend of the writer,
a staffer at the Costa Rican white house.

The woman described as a victim is quoted saying that she boarded a
taxi at a bus stop near the university only to find out that the driver
really was a bandit and the taxi was rigged with removable taxi signs.

The driver pulled a gun and then let three other persons get in the
taxi. The four managed to get the girl’s credit card and PIN number, threaten
her, take anything of value and then dump her in Curridabat in her underwear,
according to the message.

The female victim reports that the men said they had conducted such
abductions near other San José universities.

There have been no recent reports of such activities in police files,
although many crime victims in Costa Rica never make a report.

Poverty agency headresigns her post

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Silvia Lara Povedano, the executive president of the Instituto Mixto
de Ayuda Social resigned Monday, effective Nov. 6, because she said she
did not believe poverty was being fought effectively.

Her agency is a primary anti-poverty force, but she said in a lengthy
resignation letter that she was not able to make significant changes.

Fighting poverty has been a large part of President Abel Pacheco’s stated
mission, however the institute president was an independent, high-energy
figure who did not make concessions to political pressure, said one
source.

Blast hits air fieldin Venezuela

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

CARACAS, Venezuela — An explosion and fire has rocked an air force base
here.

Firefighters sprayed foam to put out the blaze at the La Carlota Airfield,
the headquarters of Venezuela's Air Force and also a private aviation landing
field often used by President Hugo Chávez.

No casualties were reported. Officials say two aviation fuel trucks
were destroyed. The cause of the blast is being investigated.

The airport incident follows an explosion at Miraflores Presidential
Palace in September that damaged the barracks of the presidential honor
guard.

Most recently, a grenade exploded Friday at the headquarters of the
government's telecommunications agency, after it carried out a raid against
a private television channel called Globovision that has been critical
of the government.

Globovision says the seizure of equipment needed to broadcast live reports
from the street was the government's first step toward shutting down the
station.

Surplus of stormsbatter México

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Heavy rains are hitting parts of western Mexico as Hurricane Olaf moves
north along the country's Pacific coast.

The U.S. National Weather Service warns that the storm, located about
120 kms. (75 miles) southwest of Cabo Corrientes, could cause dangerous
flash floods and mudslides. Meanwhile, another hurricane that threatened
to collide with Hurricane Olaf has been downgraded to a tropical storm.

Forecasters say that system, Tropical Storm Nora, is hovering in the
Pacific Ocean, off the Baja California peninsula.

On Mexico's Gulf coast, Tropical Storm Larry on Sunday forced hundreds
of people in the southern state of Tabasco to seek emergency shelter before
weakening into a tropical depression.

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Pilot project set up to push corporate responsibility

Special to A.M. Costa Rica

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new U.S.-supported program will work to promote
corporate social responsibility in the private business-sector economies
of Chile, Brazil, El Salvador, and Peru.

The Organization of American States said the program will target small
and medium-sized enterprises and will be run by the organization's development
arm, the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development. The U.S.
Mission to the Organization of American States helped with the program's
original design.

The program, which received an initial $1.1-million grant from the Inter-American
Development Bank, is being supplemented with a contribution of about $372,830
from the Canadian International Development Agency. Also supporting the
program is a Santiago, Chile-based alliance of business organizations called
Forum
EMPRESA that promotes corporate social responsibility throughout the
Americas.

The development bank defines corporate
social responsibility as an approach "based on an integral group of policies,
practices, and programs centered upon respect for ethical principles, human
beings, and the environment."

Ronald Scheman, director general of the Agency for Cooperation, said
the new program will increase "awareness among businessmen of the benefits
of corporate social responsibility and disseminate its new approaches among
the private sector as well as with non-governmental organizations, universities,
and governments."

Scheman added: "These principles will be applied to pilot groups of
small and medium-sized enterprises, to utilize their experiences as an
example for other companies."

The models developed in the four countries will be extended to the rest
of Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the plan. The project
grew out of a series of meetings held on corporate reposnsibility
in Latin America in 2002.

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Tronadora offers local bus service to Tilaran. From Tilaran, you can
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